Outlaws' local swing gets last race in after weeks battling weather
As could be expected in March, the World of Outlaws' early season swing through Central Pennsylvania resulted in more weather-related cancellations than racing. The planned two-weekend, four-race swing ended up being one race. That happened Saturday at Lincoln after the previous weekend at Port Royal and Friday’s show at Williams Grove fell victim to the weather.
Still, with just a little better luck, this could be a great swing for the Outlaws and the locals. The show at Lincoln proved that race fans in this area will brave the weather to see the Outlaws compete, and the racers certainly supported the race as well.
Lincoln’s crowd in Saturday’s chilly conditions rivaled the crowd they drew for their opener on a 70-degree Thursday in February. In fact, Lincoln has now raced four times this season. Two of those shows were absolutely home runs in the crowd department. One of the others was very good, and the other, while just so-so, wasn’t bad.
For the Outlaw show, Lincoln drew 49 sprint cars. The drivers of those cars hailed from 11 different states and three countries. While the majority (27) were from Pennsylvania, there were six Californians, three from Washington and two each from New Jersey, Oklahoma, and Indiana. Single drivers from Texas, Connecticut, North Dakota, Ohio, and Illinois covered the 11 states. One driver each from Australia and Canada were also present.
The field was so tough that four touring Outlaw drivers and this area’s leading winner among active drivers were all scheduled for the C-Main. Five touring Outlaws ran the B-Main, and all five missed qualifying and had to use provisionals to start the feature. Among that group were a 2023 Outlaw winner, a 10-time Outlaw champion, a former Outlaws winner at Lincoln and an 18-time NASCAR Cup Series winner.
It seemed ironic that in a field this strong, the front row for the feature ended up being the defending Outlaw champion and the defending Lincoln Speedway champion. Also ironic was that neither of them won the race. That honor went to an invader who has fared well in the past but was making his very first sprint car start of the season.
Rico Abreu, the very popular small person from California, took the victory after passing Outlaw champ Brad Sweet for the lead. Earlier, Sweet and Lincoln champ Freddie Rahmer had slight contact which sent Rahmer spinning.
The final feature rundown saw five Outlaws series regulars, three Posse drivers and two invaders in the top 10. Both invaders are frequent local visitors, as was one of the Outlaws, and another of the Outlaws is from the local area and started his career here.
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Modifieds: The modifieds raced at both Selinsgrove and BAPS on Saturday. Selinsgrove hosted the STSS modified series on Saturday, with Michael Maresca topping his brother-in-law, Billy Pauch Jr., for the win.
BAPS hosted the 358 modified cars that race regularly at Grandview and Big Diamond. While a point can be made for the Selinsgrove show affecting the car count at BAPS, the same class also drew a less-than-full field at Lincoln a few weeks ago. For the record, Lincoln drew 11 while BAPS had 15.
Veteran modified racer Duane Howard, who got his start in the Silver Spring limited late models, is one driver who likes these local modified shows. He’s won both of them.
This weekend: Williams Grove hopes the third time is the charm as the historic Speedway will make a third attempt at opening its season Friday evening. On the card for the Grove’s Friday show are the sprint cars and the ULMS super late models. Starting time is 7:30 p.m.
Lincoln will go for five races on the season Saturday evening. Lincoln’s Saturday slate, scheduled to start at 6 p.m., includes the sprint cars and the Central PA Legends series cars.
Port Royal will try for its second show of the season Saturday evening as well. The ULMS super late models will join the sprints and the limited late models at the Port. Scheduled starting time is 4 p.m.
BAPS Motor Speedway has its first two-day weekend of the season set for this week. After kicking off the campaign last Saturday, BAPS will be back in action this Saturday with what is considered its regular show of super sportsman, limited late model, street stock and extreme stock racing.
BAPS will come right back on Sunday evening with its first all-open wheel show of the season. The sprint cars will headline, with the 358 sprints also on hand for their very first show of the season. Both BAPS shows carry a 4 p.m. starting time.
2023 J & S CLASSICS CENTRAL PA SPRINT CAR SERIES presented by HOSEHEADS
Listing: position, car number, driver, points, series wins
After 3/18
1. 48 Danny Dietrich 133
2. 8/51 Freddie Rahmer 128 2
3. 13 Justin Peck 105 1
4. 23 Devon Borden 95
5. 39M Anthony Macri 66
6. 19 Brent Marks 65
7. 24 Rico Abreu 50 1
7. 5 Dylan Cisney 50 1
9. 49 Brad Sweet 35
9. 9P Parker PriceMiller 35
11. 16 Matt Campbell 34
12. 5E Brandon Rahmer 32
13. 27S Alan Krimes 30
14. 67 Justin Whittall 28
15. 41 Carson Macedo 25
15. 11P Tim Wagaman II 25
17. 39 Troy Wagaman Jr 22
18. 1x Chad Trout 20
18. 45 Jeff Halligan 20
20. 55 Mike Wagner 18
20. 27 Chris Windom 18
20. 44 Dylan Norris 18
23. 1s Logan Schuchart 16
24. 18 Giovanni Scelzi 14
24. 99M Kyle Moody 14